append

verb

ap·​pend ə-ˈpend 

appended; appending; appends

transitive verb

1

: attach, affix

appended a diagram to the instructions

2

: to add as a supplement or appendix (as in a book)

notes appended to each chapter

Did you know?

Add Append Onto Your Vocabulary

Append is a somewhat formal word. Lawyers, for example, often speak of appending items to other documents, and lawmakers frequently append small bills to big ones, hoping that everyone will be paying attention only to the main part of the big bill and won't notice. When we append a small separate section to the end of a report or a book, we call it an appendix. But in the early years of email, the words we decided on were attach and attachment, probably because appendixes are thought of as unimportant, whereas the attachment is often the whole reason for sending an email.

Synonyms of append

• add

Examples of append in a Sentence

append the prefix “un-” to each of these words

Recent Examples on the Web

Benoit delights in language as much as her heroine, weaving Regency-era slang throughout and appending a chapter-by-chapter glossary of vulgarities. —Angelina Mazza, Vulture, 19 June 2026

Those are some of the poetic notes appended to a special scent created for the Reykjavík Arts Festival by Fischersund, a family enterprise led by Jónsi, the lead singer of the Icelandic rock band Sigur Rós, and his artist sisters Lilja, Ingibjörg, and Sigurrós Birgisdóttir. —Andy Battaglia, ARTnews.com, 18 June 2026

Two earlier copies contain the poem in Old English, but as afterthoughts — translated from Latin and scrawled into the margin or appended but not within the text’s main body, according to the researchers. —Andrea Rosa, Los Angeles Times, 18 May 2026

Two earlier copies contain the poem in Old English, but as afterthoughts — translated from Latin and scrawled into the margin or appended but not within the text's main body, according to the researchers. —CBS News, 17 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French & Late Latin; Middle French apendre "to hang from something, suspend," borrowed from Late Latin appendere (Latin, "to pay or give out by weight"), from Latin ap- ap- entry 1 + pendere "to weigh, have a weight of" — more at pendent

Note: In the sense "to cause to be suspended, hang," the verb appendere is attested in classical Latin only once, in a line of verse attributed to Plautus; otherwise it means only "to pay or give out by weight" and is clearly a compound of ad- and the transitive verb pendere "to weigh." In addition to the line of Plautus, another piece of evidence for an earlier meaning of appendere would appear to be the noun appendix "something subordinate attached to a larger unit," attested since Cicero and Livy—see appendix. Uses of appendere in Late Latin (Historia Augusta, Palladius), where it again means "to suspend," probably employ a new spoken Latin verb *pendere "to hang" (see note at pendent).

First Known Use

circa 1509, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for append

• amend
• ascend
• attend
• backend
• befriend
• boyfriend
• commend
• compend
• contend
• defend
• depend
• descend

Kids Definition

append

verb

ap·​pend ə-ˈpend 

: to add as something extra

append a postscript to a letter